Press Release: Futurewhiz Impact Report 2023-2024

Lisa Potma

The end of the school year is approaching and that means it’s almost time for the end of year reports. Also for Futurewhiz! We proudly present the Futurewhiz Impact Report of school year 2023-2024. In total, 933,366 students and 24,536 teachers used our platforms WoordExtra, Squla, Studira and StudyGo and answered a total of 332,091,061 questions! Read more about our impact below and check out the full report.

Empowering every child to grow through personalized education

At the heart of Futurewhiz’s mission is a commitment to empowering children through personalized education. We aim to ignite curiosity and foster a love for learning by providing digital tools that make education engaging and accessible. Our CEO Serge Bueters adds to this: “Education is essential to provide children with a strong foundation. We also understand that every child is unique and has individual learning needs. At every step of a child’s school journey until the age of 18, we can support them with one of our learning products. By offering a personalized and engaging approach, tailored to their needs and interests, we aim to make learning both fun and effective. Because learning means growth as well as a greater ability to reach one’s full potential.”

574 years of practicing…

…by 933,366 children together on WoordExtra, Squla, Studira en StudyGo. Wow! They answered a staggering 332,091,061 questions. Also, 24,536 teachers incorporated our tools into their classrooms.

Squla: Fun Learning works!

Squla, our app for primary school children, has particularly stood out for its ability to make learning enjoyable. Here are some of the highlights from Squla’s usage:

  • 398,358 children played on Squla, answering 281,996,998 questions while earning 2,194,300,831 coins.
  • The kids spent over 1,209,333 hours (equivalent to 138 years) engaged in educational games.
  • In the classroom, 17,374 teachers from 4,682 schools used Squla to enhance their teaching.
  • Language and math were the most popular subjects, with 26,375,378 and 63,768,266 questions played, respectively.

Squla also engaged in efforts to make their platform accessible for all children. For example, 261,408 children used Squla for free during school hours, and 8,432 kids from low-income families accessed Squla through partnerships with foundations and municipalities.

Read the Squla Impact Report here

WoordExtra: Building a Strong Vocabulary Foundation

WoordExtra is developed for children aged 3 to 6 who need vocabulary support. It caters especially to children from low-literacy families or those with a migration background, to make sure the kids can have a good start at primary school. The app boasts:

  • 6,000 quiz questions, videos, and images covering the most important Dutch words.
  • 2,775 children engaged with the app, answering 1,354,282 questions and spending 6,589 hours learning.

Studira: Finding your learning path

Studira, the newest platform in the Futurewhiz family, offers targeted math and language practice for primary school students in grades 6, 7 and 8. By setting personalized goals with the help of parents, Studira provides step-by-step explanations and exercises tailored to each child’s level, motivating them to develop their skills effectively. During the 2023-2024 school year, Studira engaged 7,759 children who collectively answered 5,349,241 questions!

StudyGo: Makes schoolwork easier

For secondary education students, we offer StudyGo, which supports students with preparation for their tests. The platform’s highlights include:

  • 524,474 students practiced on StudyGo.
  • They completed 43,390,540 exercises and watched 727,658 explanation videos.
  • The platform helped students accumulate a total of 3,764,235 hours of practice, equivalent to 430 years!

StudyGo’s commitment to accessibility is demonstrated by their provision of discounted memberships to families in need, supporting an additional 595 students this year. Also, we organised a Buy1Give1 Campaign, helping 139 extra students with StudyGo.

Read the StudyGo Impact Report here

Social Impact Initiatives

We don’t make impact on our own. Together with various partners, such as Stichting Leergeld en Jeugdeducatiefonds, we were able to reach more children with WoordExtra, Squla, Studira en StudyGo. Via various Stichting Leergeld organisations, we distribute memberships to low-income families. This year, we were able to help an additional 9,713 children with learning in this way. To show our gratitude for this partnership with Leergeld, the impact reports were handed out last week to Saskia Tans of Leergeld Amsterdam!

On the left Saskia Tans (Leergeld Amsterdam) and on the right Lisa Potma (Futurewhiz)

Also, we have partnered with organizations like Kinderhulp and JINC to provide educational resources and opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. For instance, Futurewhiz contributed to Kinderhulp’s “Summer Fun Package” Campaign, distributing 7,500 bags filled with educational and fun items, including Squla coloring books and StudyGo supplies.

Our collaboration with the Princess Máxima Center for child cancer patients also highlights our commitment to making education accessible to all children. We donated memberships to the school facilities of the hospital.

Join the Mission

We are very proud to share the Futurewhiz Impact report 2023-2024 and will continue our journey on making impact on many children. Discover more details in the full report and be inspired to support the journey of empowering every child to grow through personalized education.

For questions, you can reach out to our Social Impact Manager Lisa Potma at lisa@futurewhiz.com.

Check out the report

Exam Season at Futurewhiz

Lisa Potma

While students were studying for the exams, we brought some exam vibes into our office during the Futurewhiz Exam season. The activities ranged from Feedback Trainings, to focus sessions, to WAB (work-avoiding-behaviour) tasks… And of course: an “Examenstunt” (Exam prank) to close it off!

To engage with our students, it is important for all our colleagues to understand what happens at schools. The Culture Crew therefore came with the idea to introduce the Futurewhiz Exam Season. It started May 16 with a Receiving Feedback Training. In the days that followed, we had various Deep Work Sessions to work uninterrupted in silence on a specific task. We also practiced the art of giving feedback during a Giving Feedback Training.

In addition, our office manager introduced a list full of WAB (work-avoiding-behaviour) tasks, inspired by the many SAB (study-avoiding-behaviour) we all engaged in back in the days. Think about cleaning the fridge, dishwasher duty or updating your calendar. As a reward, employees received a sticker. The result? A relaxed employee for taking a break and a very happy office manager. Who knew WABbing could actually be so productive?

The season ended with an “Examenstunt” (exam prank) on May 30. A group of 5 colleagues secretly gave the office a make-over the night before. The next morning, all employees were presented with the Futurewhiz Festival. Everyone entering the office that day, had to go through security, could make selfies in the selfie room, take a break in the yoga room or perform some dance moves in the reversed silent disco. At the end of the day, it was time to do an actual exam. Here the true Futurewhizard was revealed: our colleague Constantine made only one mistake and was the proud winner of the day!

We ended the Futurewhiz Exam Season with drinks in House of Watt, our favourite cafe around the corner. A day full of fun, and just like our exam time when we were teenagers – something to remember!

Moin Hamburg!

Lisa Potma

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” 
– Gustave Flaubert

It is Friday July 30, 2021, when I jump on the train from Amsterdam Central Station to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. With a suitcase and a backpack I am ready to start my new adventure in Germany. After working for 5 years at Squla and WRTS (both part of Futurewhiz), I now have the opportunity to work for scoyo, a German online learning platform for primary school children. I will reinforce the marketing team with email / loyalty marketing and help build a bridge between the Amsterdam and Hamburg office.

After a few first days of sightseeing in my new hometown Hamburg (checking out the beautiful Alster, Rathausmarkt and Elbphilharmonie), I start my new role as Loyalty Manager scoyo on the 1st of August. The team gives me a very warm welcome: fresh flowers, a nicely decorated desk, snacks and a welcome’s lunch with the Marketing Team!

scoyo was founded in 2007 but completely rebuilt and rebranded at the end of 2020. The challenge is to find the right market / product fit in the German market. I learn a lot from my colleagues about the German school system, the German consumer (market) and how to do business in Germany. I try to mix my knowledge from Squla and WRTS with my new German market knowledge to help scoyo grow into the next phase, so we can help more and more children with personalised fun learning. 

At the end of August I have an intensive German language course at “De nonnen van Vught” – an awesome experience! We focus on office conversations, interviewing teachers and parents, discussing school topics, writing emails, cultural differences and of course some grammar. 

When I return to Hamburg I switch to speaking German in the office, which results in some great entertainment for my colleagues. Some examples:

  • Saying the German word “krass” in an official meeting (I thought “krass” meant ‘cool, awesome’, but it means something like ‘dope’…)
  • Accidentally translating Dutch sayings, such as “Das ist geschnitten Kuchen” or “Etwas unter das Knie haben”, which are sentences that don’t make a lot of sense in German
  • Trying to tell someone that I know my way around this area by saying “Ich bin hier bekannt”, which actually translates into “I am famous here”…

In the next months I start to feel at home and settle more and more into the role and the country. I learn a lot! For example, did you know that the Germans actually prefer to “duzen” (an informal way to talk to someone), but to be polite they still often start with ”Sie” (which is a formal way to talk to someone)? And that there is quite some innovation in environmental consciousness and eating vegetarian / vegan? And, not unimportant, that you always need to have some cash with you since you cannot always pay by card (this caused some missed bus trips and sprints to cash machines)? In addition, I try a lot of German food, such as Franzbrötchen (cinnamon croissant), currywurst und pommes, Schmalzkuchen, Brezeln and Reibekuchen. And of course, drink a lot of Glühwein at the wunderschöne Weihnachtsmärkte. Even though I really like to join my colleagues for a warm lunch every now and then, I still prefer my Dutch brought-from-home-lunch: bread with avocado.  

Next to work I am discovering Hamburg together with my volleyball team, colleagues, flatmates and friends and family from the Netherlands who come to visit, which is a lot of fun! I also found an awesome language buddy, who I meet regularly to speak German and Dutch with and talk about our cultures. 

To conclude, I can definitely recommend saying yes to such an adventure! It teaches so much, you meet many new interesting people and it really broadens my horizon! 

Tschüss!!!

Liebe Grüße

Lisa

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